


The Galar Kids Play Cupid

by infizero



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: (it's just bastard i think yall will be fine), Autistic Marnie, Autistic Victor, Champion Gloria, Comedy, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Matchmaking, Mischief, Peer Pressure, Secrets, Sibling Victor & Gloria, Twins, Twins Victor & Gloria, also he's bad at lying, children attempt to set up two adult men, gloria & victor are from alola, gloria gets into trouble and poor victor always gets roped into it, made up last name for victor & gloria, two (2) whole swears, victor has anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22312318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infizero/pseuds/infizero
Summary: When his sister gets the brilliant idea to set Leon and Raihan up, Victor gets roped up into an elaborate scheme along with their rivals.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 110





	The Galar Kids Play Cupid

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I hope you'll have as much fun reading this as I had writing it! ^^

"I'm bored."

Victor's eyes slid over to his sister's. "Me too."

"I wanna do something~..." Gloria complained, leaning back in her bean bag. 

"Uh… I dunno. We could like, battle or something." Victor suggested benignly.

Gloria barked out a laugh. "No offense Vicky, but battles against you are kinda lame. I win too easily. It wouldn't be any fun."

"Yeah that's fair." Victor wasn't much of a trainer himself. Sure, he had taken on the Gym Challenge, but it was really just for fun. Every kid in Galar wanted to as soon as they turned 13.

He himself had lost rather quickly, getting stuck on Nessa for so long that he decided to just forfeit and followed Gloria around. And when she became Champion, well, he wasn't upset in the slightest. The title suited her much better than it ever would him.

There was a pause of quiet, as Gloria’s eyes glanced around the room mischievously. 

It was a look that Victor knew well - it meant she was about to get into some hijinks, and he would probably get roped into it. He sighed as he awaited what was sure to get him in trouble with _someone,_ though whether that would be their mom or the police was unknown until it was over. Knowing his sister, it could be either.

“What is it this time?” he said defeatedly.

“You know Leon? Ex-champ of Galar?” Gloria asked. It wasn’t an actual question obviously; of course Victor knew Leon. “Well, I have noticed that Mr. Champ-No-More over here, keeps staring at Mr. Dragon Man.”

“Raihan?” Victor supplied.

“Yes. So. My proposition.” Gloria’s mouth curved up into a wicked grin. “We set them up.”

“WHAT?”

“C’mon, they’re obvious! Everyone can see they like each other!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “They’re both just wimps. We gotta do something to help these poor men!”

"B-but… okay, while I admit you're probably right, we don't know that for sure!" Victor protested. "Isn't this kind of an invasion of privacy?"

"Whatever, they'll thank us in the long run. Now come on, we gotta get ready!" Gloria tugged on his hand, giving him a persuasive look.

"Okay…"

* * *

"Alright, first stage of the plan." Gloria said as they walked to Wedgehurst. "We're going to need some flowers for Leon to give. It's not a romantic gesture without flowers."

"I guess." Victor shrugged. He still wasn't totally on board with this, but he didn't really have anything else to do, and he hated being home alone, bored out of his mind. Besides, even if this went horribly, it couldn't do too much harm.

"Also, flowers have different meanings. We have to factor that in." Gloria informed him. "I was thinking red roses, since they symbolize true love and everything, but I feel like they're overused, don't you? Maybe purple violets? Ooo, white jasmine could work too, but I'm not sure they'll have those. Fini, so many options! Blue hyacinths? Morning glories? Blue salvias? Hmm… what do you think Vicky?"

Victor had to admit, he completely zoned out. He didn't mean to, it was just hard for him to focus sometimes. Also, since when was his sister some sort of flower expert?

"Uh… I dunno. Just do whatever you want."

That proved to have been a mistake, as it led to Victor spending the next hour in the flower shop, standing around doing nothing as Gloria tried to come up with the perfect combination that would express Leon's feelings for Raihan. She kept running back and forth, picking the types of flowers and determining which sleeves and ribbons would compliment them best, only to put it all back and start over. Victor felt like he had been in the tiny store for eons.

Finally reaching the limit of his patience, he grabbed Gloria's shoulder and yanked her away from the display. "Lorry. Please. I can't take much more of this. Just choose some."

"But they have to be perfect!" Gloria responded, her face oddly intense. "It's not everyday you confess your love to someone! It has to be the perfect flower combination in order to achieve the perfect confession!"

"Raihan probably doesn't even know all this flower symbolism stuff!" Victor replied, exasperated. "Just pick some bloody flowers before I explode."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Gloria waved him off. She stared at the flowers in her hand; they were red, but Victor had no idea what kind they were. "What if I just put one of each?"

"That could work." Victor shrugged. He wouldn't be any help when it came to the arrangements - his sense of visual design was really bad, to the point where his teachers would often audibly sigh when he put his presentation up on the projector.

Now actually going somewhere, it wasn't long before Gloria came back holding a purchased bouquet, flowers of all colors wrapped up with a big red ribbon.

"Does it look okay? I think the combination works well; we've got 'symbol of love', 'longing for you', 'you're a flame in my heart', 'you're adorable', 'love', although carnations are kinda associated with women, maybe I should get rid of those…" Gloria rattled off, pointing to the different flowers. "Anyways, there's also 'think of me', 'secret love', 'eternal love,' 'bonds of love,' 'constancy of love,' 'sweet love', 'affection,' 'I love you,' 'I think of you,' 'forever mine', 'everlasting love'..."

"How can there be so many flowers that mean love?" Victor asked, bewildered.

"I dunno. But their meanings are all slightly different. The most important ones in here are _these,"_ Gloria pointed to some red flowers, which were clearly the main attraction, as there were twice as many as the others. "Red tulips. They represent passion, but also are used as a declaration of love, which is exactly what we're going for."

She looked up at her brother, her eyes practically sparkling. "It's perfect! Thanks for keeping my head on straight."

"No problem..." Victor mumbled, feeling overwhelmed by all of this flower talk.

"Alright, time for step two…"

* * *

"Although Leon's outfit has improved dramatically since I beat him, he can't just show up wearing his everyday clothes. Neither can Raihan. So, step two: we get them suits." Gloria explained. They had just entered one of the clothing stores in Wedgehurst; it sold different clothes than the local boutique, which Gloria thought would be more appropriate for the occasion.

"Wait, but we don't know their measurements-"

"Already ahead of you bro." Gloria held up her phone, which was currently displaying a website with Leon's picture on it. "I got em right here."

"How did you…?"

"Creepy fansites. Don't ask."

Victor decided it was best he didn't.

They searched through different suits for a while before settling on a deep red one with a black bow tie for Leon. Victor personally thought it was a bit too similar to Leon's current outfit he wore at the Battle Tower, but whatever. Don't fix what isn't broken.

After looking a bit longer, they decided on a navy suit for Raihan, with a blood orange tie. Gloria kept referencing pictures of the two on her phone to figure out what would and wouldn't work, but at last they were ready to check out.

“I have a question Glo.” Victor said, picking up the suits from the register and following his sister out the door. “This is great and all, but how are we gonna convince Leon to actually go through with this? I doubt he’d…”

“Simple! That’s the next step.” Gloria interrupted, gesturing to Postwick in the distance and waggling her eyebrows.

Victor already didn’t like where this was going.

* * *

Leon didn’t seem to be used to having so much free time. After his time as Champion ended, he immediately threw himself into working on the Battle Tower. According to Hop, he had been working feverishly into the night, not wanting to be left without anything to do. Fortunately, the combined worrying of his family and friends had led to him to take some time off and come back home to Postwick. Which was good for him, but was also good for Gloria’s plan.

“Step three: getting Leon to do this.” Gloria stated, lowering her voice in imitation of an officer as she held up three fingers. Victor rolled his eyes. “Now, as you pointed out, Leon would never agree to this if he knew what it was. Which is why…”

“Gloria, no-”

“...he _won’t_ know what it is!”

“Gloria!” Victor exclaimed, exasperated. “We can’t just _lie_ to him!”

“Sure we can! C’mon, it’s for the greater good.” Gloria reassured him. “Now do you want to hear the rest of this phase or not?”

Victor put his head in his hands before sighing and nodding defeatedly.

“Great. Now, Raihan and Leon will need to be told different things to get them both to the end location.” Gloria explained. 

“Which is…?”

“Hammerlocke Stadium. It’s the off-season, so no one should be there, plus there’s enough room to do whatever we need to do.” Gloria took out her Rotom Phone (which was currently in Sleep Mode, to prevent the chatty Rotom inside from blabbering about their secret plan.) and tapped her messages app. “Speaking of which, let me check in with Marnie and Bede.”

“W-what!? They’re in on this too!?”

“‘Course! I want this done by the end of the day, we’re never gonna finish this all by ourselves.” Gloria waved him off as she called. She put it on speaker phone and waited as it rang. After a moment, someone on the other end picked up.

“Hey Marns~! How’s the stadium coming along?” Gloria asked, her voice getting all giddy like how it always did when she spoke to the other girl. Victor sighed.

“Prett’ good.” Marnie mused on the other end after a moment. “Bede ‘as quite ta’ eye for design. Ah should get ‘im as mah personal stylis’.”

Gloria gave a light chuckle. “So when do you think you guys will be ready?”

“Mmm… maybe ‘alf an hour? Ye, should be done by ten.”

“Ten!? We don’t have time for that! Mom wants us home by eight!” Gloria exclaimed.

“Huh?"

"Oh geez- Marnie, I think Gloria thought you said 'ten' instead of 'then'." Victor clarified. Marnie wasn't the best at picking up social clues. He wasn't either, mainly due to his autism, but he knew all his sister's little quirks and tell-tale signs.

"Oh, no, no, Glo, ah said-” Victor could hear Marnie muster up the best Unovan accent she could do- “‘ _then’_. Not ‘ten.’”

“Oh. Sorry, got it! Well that sounds good! See you then!”

Gloria ended the call and immediately groaned, slumping over. “ _Ten?_ I’m the biggest idiot in the world.”

Victor patted her back reassuringly.

“Anyways… so I’ll bring Leon, and you’ll bring Raihan, each under different pretenses. They show up at the stadium, and then we reveal the real reason they’re there. Although, with the decorations I ordered, they’ll probably figure it out once they get there. So I guess it would be more of a clarification than anything…” Gloria pondered before exclaiming, “ANYWAYS! Doesn’t matter. According to Marnie, Raihan is already in Hammerlocke, so you guys should get to the Stadium pretty quickly. That means _don’t get him until I say so,_ okay?”

Victor nodded with a gulp, already feeling anxious he would mess this up somehow. Which might end up being for the best.

“I’ll send you a text when it’s go time, and another one when it’s time to bring them in. We want them to enter at the same time so they can’t run away before the other arrives.” Gloria told him. “Now, here’s what you tell him…”

* * *

Leon was sitting in the living room, watching reruns of one of Nessa’s matches on the telly, when the doorbell rang. Which was odd. Postwick was quite small, and other than the Yoroi kids, who usually just let themselves in considering they had a key to the house, he couldn’t think of anyone who would be showing up at this time. Hopefully it wasn’t anymore nosy reporters trying to interview him.

He reluctantly got up and opened the door. He didn’t see anyone at first, but upon looking down he saw that it was in fact Gloria Yoroi, new Champion of Galar, standing there. She was dressed up in a red gown with black lace and had flowers decorating her hair, which was curled up in an updo. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and a garment bag. He smiled, trying to hide the fact that he was extremely confused as to what was happening (a tactic he used to employ a lot when listening to Chairman Rose).

“Gloria! Nice to see you.” he started, running a finger through his hair nervously. “What’s with the get-up?”

“That’s exactly why I’m here!” Gloria said, handing him the bag, which he took to be polite, despite his utter confusion. “ _Eldegloss_ magazine wants to do a photoshoot with the two of us for an article about my victory. I’m _really_ sorry to disturb your vacation, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. It shouldn’t take too long.”

She certainly looked very apologetic. Leon gave her a smile and waved her off, trying to pretend that mention of his defeat didn’t still depress him slightly. “Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. Is this, uh…” he held up the garment bag. “-what I’m wearing?”

Gloria nodded and held up the bouquet. “This too, but I’ll hold onto it while you change.”

“Ah, thank you.” he ushered her in and gestured to the couch. “Well, have a seat. I shouldn’t be too long. Unless of course I get lost on the way to the bathroom.”

Gloria laughed and sat down, even though Leon hadn’t been joking. He had once gotten lost on the way to the bathroom.

* * *

Victor fiddled with his fingers nervously as he waited for Gloria to text him. Sure, it had only been a few minutes since Gloria went to change and he had left for Hammerlocke, but he was, well, nervous. He felt like no matter what he was going to screw up, and people were going to get mad at him. He had a while before he needed to go get Raihan from his apartment, so he headed to the Gym to check on how Marnie and Bede were doing.

There was no one manning the main desk, as it was the off-season, so Victor was able to slip inside with ease. He dropped Raihan's suit off in the changing rooms for later and headed to the stadium.

As he made his way through the tunnel, he spotted the trainers in the middle of the stadium. Marnie was up on a stepladder, adjusting a pink banner that was strung between two metal poles. Bede was below on the ground directing her. Bede’s Hatterene, Lacy, was busying herself with some pink lace (appropriate), while Marnie's Morpeko (whom Gloria affectionately referred to as "Peko Peko", due to his seemingly endless stomach, or, less affectionately, "bastard") gnawed on a cotton ball, unnoticed by his trainer and much to the alarm of Victor.

Forfeiting any formal greeting he was going to give to his friends, Victor ran over to the small Pokemon and frantically tried to get the cotton ball out of his mouth. How did such a tiny creature have such a strong jaw!?

Luckily, he was just able to overpower it and to wrench the fluff away from the little Pokemon. Good Bulu, what was Marnie feeding this thing? He stuffed the cotton ball into his pocket until he found a bin and turned around to see Bede staring at him incredulously. Marnie simply looked bored.

"Are you done playing Tug-o-War?" Bede huffed, walking up to the boy. Marnie pinned the banner up and climbed down the ladder to join him.

"What in the world are you giving to Peko Peko, Marnie?" Victor heaved, sweating from the physical exertion. "That thing's stronger than any Togedemaru in Alola, and those things get _big!_ "

"Wot?"

"What are you feeding Peko Peko? It's stronger than any Togedemaru we had in Alola." Victor repeated, speaking a bit clearer. Marnie took a bit to process things sometimes due to her autism, and she told them it helped a lot if they just said it again. He always took the time to do it, no questions asked. He personally didn't have those issues, but it was different for everyone.

"Hmm? Oh, ah dunno." Marnie said after a second, shrugging. "He really likes 'is treats, that one does."

"I guess, sheesh." Victor sighed, glancing down at the little troublemaker in question, who had scurried behind his trainer and was currently giving him a pouty look. What a drama queen. Speaking of which…

“Bede, I’m kind of surprised. Why are you helping us do this?” Victor asked. While yes, Bede technically was their friend and hung out with them, he wouldn’t have thought the often-irritable boy would have agreed to do something so… silly.

“It gives me an excuse to get out of training.” Bede shrugged. “Gran- I mean, Opal likes when I hang out with my ‘friends’, so she lets me skip from time to time.”

“Ah. So we’re an excuse.” Victor said deadpan, not surprised in the least.

“Well you don’t have to make it sound so rude.” Bede retorted. “I enjoy you and everyone else in this little group’s time. Except for maybe the Champion.”

Victor snorted at that last bit. Bede never referred to Gloria with her name. When they were challenging the League, he just called her ‘625’, her League number. Now it was ‘Champion’, which, although more humanizing, also was a bit patronizing considering Bede’s usual manner of speaking (sneering).

“Well, good to know. Now, I can help out with a few things if you need.” Victor clarified, glancing around the area. “I’ve got like 10 minutes before I need to head to Raihan’s place. Anything I can do?”

Marnie opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly they heard the unmistakable sound of the main entrance’s doors opening, ringing throughout the empty silence. The children froze and without thinking Victor sped out of the stadium into the foyer, where the Dragon-type Gym Leader Raihan himself stood.

“H-hey, Raihan!” he yapped, almost involuntarily. He did _not_ do well in stressful situations, and he could already feel his anxiety having a field day.

_Koko help me_ , he thought miserably, hoping the Tapu of adventure could somehow hear his prayer all the way in Galar.

Turning around, the Gym Leader flashed his trademark smile and waved, albeit looking a bit confused. “Oh, hey, Victor right? Gloria’s brother?”

Victor nodded, feeling sweat pool down his face and hoping it wasn’t too obvious he was hiding something. “Yup, that’s me! Gloria's brother!” What!? He already nodded! Raihan got the memo! Why was he still talking?

“Yeah, I remember seeing you at the Opening Ceremony. How’s your sister? The Champ title living up to everything?” Raihan asked, hands stuffed in his hoodie. He didn’t seem too suspicious yet, which Victor was grateful for. 

_Maybe Tapu Koko did hear my prayer after all,_ he thought almost jokingly.

“Yeah, she’s uh, having a lot of fun! Being Champion, I mean! It’s really fun! I mean, I wouldn’t know that since I’m not the Champion but she seems like she’s having it! The fun, I mean!” Victor babbled, just running his mouth in the hope that he could stall for time.

“As much fun as you’re having in my Gym?” Raihan asked dryly, glancing over at the entrance to the Stadium.

“Gyah!” Victor yelped, unable to hide his guilt. “How did you know?”

“Well I would say I have a watchful eye from guarding the Vault, which I do, but I literally saw you come out of the tunnel.” Raihan pointed out. “Not very hard to figure out."

Victor whimpered and hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry Raihan.”

“Hey, whatever. It’s the off-season, I don’t even keep this place locked. If you wanna come here to train, I’m not stopping you.” Raihan shrugged, a good-natured grin on his face. “Maybe then you’ll actually be able to get to me next year.”

“To tra- wha?” Victor said in confusion before realizing that he was safe. He quickly cleared his throat and tried to act natural. “Oh, yeah. That’s what I was doing. Training.”

“Well, I could help you if you want. I’ve got some lower-level Pokemon in the back that I could use.” Raihan nodded his head towards the storage room.

"Uh, uh sure-"

Victor felt a buzz in his pocket and realized too late that he hadn’t put his Rotom in Sleep Mode. Before he could do anything, the orange possessed little phone zipped out and began to say, “Incoming call from Gloria, bzzt! Incoming call, bzzt!”

He panicked as he tried to think of what to do. Before he _could_ do anything, however, Raihan started to walk past him.

“I’ll let you take that while I get ready.” Raihan said quietly.

Victor jolted and turned around to try and stop him, before he realized that the Gym Leader was heading towards the storage room, not the Stadium. The minute the man disappeared behind the door, Victor gave a sigh of agonized relief and accepted Gloria’s call.

“Gloria, you better be ON YOUR WAY with Leon!” he shouted anxiously, feeling his legs start to jitter. As a precaution, he spoke in Alolan just so Raihan wouldn't accidentally overhear anything.

“I’m on Charizard with him right now. Don’t worry, I’m guiding him.” came his sister’s voice from the other end, also speaking in Alolan for presumably the same reason. “Is everything okay?”

“NO! Raihan is AT the Gym and is going to head into the Stadium at any second!” Victor screeched, eyes darting nervously at the door to the storage room. “I didn’t even get to ask him to check out the new fake restaurant!”

“Aw, really? I spent so much time making that up… okay, okay, we’ll be there in a few minutes flat. Can you keep him distracted that long?”

“...Maybe?”

“Geez. Okay, one minute. I’ll tell Leon to high-tail it over there. See you on the other side!”

The call ended and Victor quickly checked his messages. While he was in the call, he put Rotom into Sleep Mode and texted Marnie to see if they were ready. She said that Bede was just finishing the last little details and that they were as good as they’d ever be. All he could do before Raihan walked back out was text a quick ‘k’ back.

“Alright Victor, ready to head in?” Raihan asked, patting the new Pokeballs on his belt.

“Uhh… no! Hold on, um…” Crap crap crap, how could he stall more!? “I wanted to uh… show you, something, first. On my… phone?”

Raihan gave him a funny look, but he came over anyways. “Uh… sure. What is it?”

“Um…”

Victor prayed Tapu Koko had chosen this specific day to migrate to Galar.

* * *

Gloria hung up and shoved her phone back in her purse. "Hey Leon, I was just on the phone with the magazine people, they said we need to get there _now._ "

"Like, _now_ now?"

"Like now now. Can Charizard go any faster?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Then kick into high gear buster! We've got a photoshoot to get to!" Gloria yelled, pointing a finger at him.

Leon, looking slightly scared, did just that. "Hold on-!"

Gloria gripped the sides of Charizard as tight as she could as the large Pokemon shot through the air, soaring past little groups of Rookidee before arriving at Hammerlocke in no time at all.

"Wow…" Gloria said in awe, spitting a flower out of her mouth. Wait, flower-!?

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, looking at the disaster before her.

Her carefully-arranged flower bouquet that she worked so hard on making perfect (and which also cost quite a bit of money) was splattered all over the orange Pokemon's back, many of them missing and a few snapped in half. She desperately attempted to stuff them back in the sleeve, but it ended up just looking like a sad pile of weeds. She groaned in frustration and hopped off Charizard, throwing the destroyed flowers in the garbage. There was one red tulip left untainted, which she handed to Leon.

"Here. This is all that's left." Gloria said glumly.

"Aw, it's okay kiddo. I'm sure it'll be fine." the former-Champion frowned. "It's their fault anyways. Every photoshoot I've ever done you get changed _at_ the location, not before you go to it. I don't know what they were thinking."

Gloria didn't even have the heart to make up an excuse for that. She pulled out her phone and texted Victor to say it was time, then led Leon to the Gym. "C'mon, they want us to go in this way."

* * *

Victor didn't think he'd ever been more relieved in his life when he got Gloria's text. 

He had been showing Raihan a stupid Meowth video he had just randomly searched up, pretending to have already seen it and hoping he wouldn't combust with anxiety. After receiving her text, he swiped it away before Raihan could read it and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Okay, well uh… that's enough! How about we go battle!" Victor stammered. Unfortunately, without the restaurant excuse, he had no opportunity to get Raihan to change into his suit, which was currently collecting dust in the changing rooms. Gloria would just have to deal.

"Alright." Raihan said, peering at the boy curiously. "You alright dude?"

"Yup! Totally! Totally fine!" Victor squeaked, heading to the tunnel. "C'mon!"

Raihan followed him in, still staring a bit before glimpsing the middle of the stadium. Luckily, he didn't seem to realize what it was yet, and continued to head forward.

"Victor, what the-"

"Just go!" Victor sighed, waving him in. "Just go! Please."

Raihan now looked thoroughly confused, but still he followed Victor, heading to the middle. Bede and Marnie were gone, having cleared out the minute they were finished as Gloria presumably instructed them. It wasn't until they got to the brink of the pink confetti littering the ground that Raihan stopped in his tracks.

"Oh my Arceus."

* * *

Gloria watched as Leon caught sight of his rival across from him, the other man _not_ in his suit for some reason(!). Gloria gave her brother a disappointed look from behind the former Champion. Victor simply gave an apologetic expression and waved slowly.

Anyways! The suit didn't matter! What mattered was the big moment that was about to happen right in front of them! Even Leon wasn't dumb enough to not recognize what was happening - paper roses and pink lace littered the area, with a large banner reading 'TELL HIM!' in huge, curly pink letters (courtesy of Bede).

Gloria watched their expressions carefully. Raihan was frozen, looking Leon's windblown suit and hair up and down. Leon on the other hand stared at the single flower in his grasp, which Gloria had somewhat pitifully wrapped with the red ribbon that had been originally tied around the bouquet sleeve. Then finally, Leon's mouth opened and-!

"What is this, you two?" 

Gloria's heart dropped. No! This wasn't how this was supposed to go! Well, okay, a lot of it had already gone the wrong way, but this was _it!_ The final product, the big moment, the _confession!_ "What do you mean? We've set you up! I know the way you look at each other, but I knew you were both cowards, so I wanted to help you confess, and well-"

She gestured to the elaborate display in front of them. "-here it is! Leon was supposed to have more flowers but they got blown away, and I don't even know what happened the suit I got for you Raihan, but none of that matters now! Just go for it Leon! Tell him how you feel!"

The two men looked at each other for a moment before bursting out into… laughter? They were… laughing? At her plan? At her? As the two men chuckled to themselves, Gloria stood to the sidelines, feeling stupid. Had she misread the signs? Were they not actually in love with each other?

Had it all been for nothing?

After attempting to calm themselves down, Raihan managed to get out between chuckles, "Gloria… while we appreciate the effort…"

"We're already dating." Leon finished.

Gloria stared at them, bug-eyed, sure she had heard that wrong. "WHAT!?"

"We've been dating for what, a year and a half?" Raihan supplied, glancing at his apparent boyfriend.

"About, yeah." Leon turned to Gloria. "Sorry kid. I can tell you put a lot of effort into this."

"B-but, that's impossible! How did I not know about this!?" Gloria demanded.

"We generally keep our relationship private." Raihan said, walking up to the young Champion. "But our family and friends all know, for the most part."

"Wait a minute… including Hop?" Gloria asked, going still for a moment.

"Yes."

"THAT BASTARD!" the young girl roared, clenching her fists. "THAT'S why he wouldn't help! He knew this gonna be a failure from the very beginning! He just wanted to watch this whole thing blow up in my face, huh!? Roight, I see how it is-!"

"Gloria, Gloria, calm down!" Victor babbled frantically, running over to stop her from doing anything she might regret. "It was just a joke, calm down."

"So this is what you were up to." Raihan mused, glancing down at Victor.

"Wh-what!?" Victor exclaimed, looking baffled. "You knew I was lying?"

"Well duh. No offense Victor, but you are literally the worst liar I have ever seen." Raihan laughed. "Though if you actually want to train, I'm still up for it.

"No no no, I'm fine. And I owe you an apology, too." Victor mumbled.

He took a deep breath and shouted out, "I'm sorry for me and my sister's breach of privacy! We shouldn't have gotten involved with your personal life like that."

"Yeah. I probably shouldn't have done that." Gloria agreed.

"Aw, it's fine. It's kind of cute, how you wanted to help us like that." Raihan snickered. He glanced over at the banner and everything, lying now pretty much useless on the grass of the stadium. "Seems like a waste to just throw this all away."

His eyes slid over to Leon's and he grinned, his sharp little fang poking out. "Maybe we could repurpose it. It's not everyday we can have a date away from all the press."

Gloria realized what he was thinking and squealed. "I'm on it!" 

Before anyone could say anything she ran off as fast as she could, ready to make it up to them.

Raihan glanced down at Victor. "Your sister said something about a suit?"

Victor's eyes lit up.

* * *

Gloria and Victor watched the happy couple from afar, standing inside one of the tunnels. Gloria had picked up meals from a _real_ local restaurant and Victor had given Raihan his suit, and now the two were sitting at a fold-up table that they had put red fabric over, eating their food and talking. Gloria had a smile on her face, happy that everything had worked out, while Victor was simply relieved that it was all over and no one had gotten in trouble.

Suddenly his sister turned to him and played with her hair before admitting, “Hey… I’m sorry bro. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. I should’ve listened to you.”

“It’s okay.” Victor said, giving her a small smile. “I like hanging out with you. Even if it is… exhausting, sometimes.”

“Awwww…” Gloria cooed before grabbed him and giving him a noogie. “You’re a nerd.”

“Thanks.” he retorted, attempting to get away, but before he could, someone cleared their throat behind them. Gloria let go of his head, and they turned around to see Bede and Marnie.

“I assume things went according to plan?” Bede asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the scene on the field.

Gloria and Victor shared a look.

“Not exactly.”

Marnie suddenly retched and whipped her head away from the field, averting her eyes. “Oh yuck, thas’ disgustang-” 

In contrast, Gloria immediately spun towards the field and gasped in delight. Leon and Raihan had shared a brief kiss, right underneath the banner which now read ‘SORRY FOR INTERFERING WITH YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS’ in Gloria’s messy scrawl.

“Oh, that’s so sweet~!” she exclaimed, getting a lovey-dovey look in her eyes as well. 

Marnie continued to look away, while Bede just gagged. Victor sighed and dragged his sister away from the stadium entrance. “What did I just say about respecting the fact that they want to keep their personal life _private?”_

Gloria realized her mistake and turned around from the field. “Ack! Sorry, sorry! I’ll leave them alone. C’mon guys, how about we get something to eat too. I’m famished.”

They all agreed and followed her out of the stadium, leaving the men in peace, surrounded by the childish pink decor and shoddy handwritten banner, completely hidden from the nosy public (and children). Maybe the plan had worked after all.

**Author's Note:**

> wip title: local kids attempt to get men to date, unaware they're already dating
> 
> My personal hc for Victor and Gloria is that Gloria is a really good competitive trainer, while Victor is more of a casual trainer who just did the Gym Challenge for fun. He's proud of his sister though~ 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Kudos but especially comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
